This is not the apocalypse . . . yet. But, the recent raging fires, droughts, hurricanes, floods, storms and melting ice feel like it. And these are only the impacts of a 1°C increase in global temperatures.
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report stated with “high confidence,” that human activities have already increased global temperatures by 1°C. On current trends, the increase will by 1.5°C by 2030. They warn that an increase over 1.5°C will cause a planet-wide ecological disaster unlike anything seen by humanity. To prevent this, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 49% by 2030, and to net zero by 2050. If not, the global temperature increase will exceed 2°C. That would be the apocalypse.
Awareness of human caused climate change has existed for a long, long time. In 1960, the US Science Advisory Committee warned that CO2 emissions could have a “greenhouse warming effect.” Since then the evidence for climate change has only piled up. Achieving the target emission reductions are entirely realistic, the technology and knowledge all exist. The barrier is the current economic and political arrangements.
However, to protect their economic interests, fossil fuel industries, conservative think tanks, and right-wing media have spent trillions of dollars trying to discredit climate science. The US president is a climate change denier, and his administration has done everything to deregulate the fossil fuels industry, increase reliance on coal and petroleum and stop development of alternative energy sources. While Trudeau is not a denier, his government’s actions increase greenhouse gas emissions.
The evidence is clear: capitalism cannot fix climate change. Capitalism is a system to maximize profits for the owners of the economy. Tackling climate change requires prioritizing science over profits and long-term international planning and cooperation, something impossible for competing companies and countries.
To fix climate change it will take the working class fighting in solidarity. Capitalists have harnessed climate anxiety to sell products: Tesla cars, organic foods, and whole host of other “green” products. However these are a drop in the ocean as 70% of all emissions are caused by just 100 corporations. While changes to individual lifestyles are welcome, these alone will not deal with climate change.
A united working class requires linking tackling climate change to economic justice. Workers will need to be retrained and have good jobs in renewable energy, public transit, ecological construction and environmental repair. There is a lot of work to do. To provide these good jobs will require employment to be based on social and environmental needs, not profits for the few.
The working class has the potential power to control the economy and change society. It will need clear socialist policies, militant actions including strikes and electing socialist candidates independent of corporate money.
We need to overthrow capitalism. We are socialists, first and foremost, because we care about humanity and want to see it prosper. The task ahead is daunting, but not impossible. This is not the apocalypse yet, and in a socialist world, it won’t be.
Invest in Jobs Not a Pipeline
In 2018 fires raged across BC’s forests — stoked by climate change, the Federal Court of Appeal delayed construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline to Vancouver and the International Panel on Climate Change gave a stark warning that society needs to rapidly and radically reduce the release of CO2. Yet Trudeau decided to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline with $4.5 billion of taxpayers’ money. As if we need more fires than last year.
The Court ruling is merely a delay, as the government does a second rushed consultation with First Nations and seeking ways to mitigate tanker impact on orca whales. The government has repeated its committed to build the pipeline, using our hard earned tax dollars.
Trudeau falsely claims the pipeline “will create 15,000 new, middle class jobs.” Tragically Alberta’s NDP premier Notley has also swallowed the jobs’ myth. Kinder Morgan’s own submission stated that the project would create 90 permanent jobs and 2,500 construction jobs for two years. Construction costs are estimated at $9.3 billion. The government is proposing to spend at least $13.8 billion to provide a few short-tem jobs, while damaging the environment and ignoring Indigenous’ rights.
Another myth is that the pipeline will significantly boost the price of Alberta’s bitumen. There is no basis for this, as the lower price is mainly due to the much higher cost of transporting and refining bitumen compared to normal crude oil.
Spending $14 billion would provide around 18,00 good jobs for the next 20 years. It would provide clean water for all First Nations’ reserves. Canada could begin the necessary dramatic shift to clean energy by investing in renewable energy, insulating buildings to reduce fuel use and cost, and investing in public transit.
It will take a struggle to stop Trudeau’s pipeline mania. Socialist Alternative campaigns for a mass movement that hits profits as the best way to stop the pipeline.
